Dr. Abdul Latif Al-Sheikh, CEO of BAE Systems SDT, confirmed that the training and development sector is the link that harmonizes education outputs with the needs of the labor market. In his interview with Okaz, he explained that the position of CEO must be characterized by his ability to lead and strategic outlook, pointing out that there are global and local models of CEOs who run very successful companies and organizations, noting that it is very important for the success of any CEO to realize that he is not a leader. Not only that, but an ambassador for the organization he heads. He said: "The role of the leader is focused on decision-making and leadership, while the senior management is specialized in its fields, and it is also important for the senior management team to possess a spirit of leadership and integrity, because the CEO's success is not achieved by a senior management who agrees with all his views and directions." And to the details of the dialogue:
• Tell us about your progression in the professional field, until you reached this position, and you won the "Okaz" award for the best CEOs?
•• At the outset, I would like to thank “Okaz” newspaper, and the award secretariat for the honor, which would not have been possible without the continuous support and assistance of the Board of Directors and the efficiency of our work team in their relentless pursuit of achieving strategic goals and plans, despite all challenges.
As for the personal biography, after obtaining a PhD in Business Administration from the University of Surrey in the United Kingdom, I started my career at BAE Systems as a Chief Administrative Officer, then Director of Strategy and Business Development Department, then I was promoted to Vice President of Strategy and Business Development, and then CEO of BAE Systems Saudi Arabia for Training and Development, until I was recently appointed CEO of OMC Holding Company in addition to my current job.
• What challenges did you face, and how were you able to overcome them and finally be able to continue achieving success in the company?
•• As you know that «BAE Systems Saudi Arabia for Training and Development» offers training programs specialized in aircraft maintenance, and this field has challenges, and certainly the leadership of a system such as BAE Systems Saudi Arabia for Training and Development includes more than 4,000 employees in different regions of the Kingdom and provide Common services for them, in addition to several other companies, and providing highly trained human resources for administrative matters constitutes a major challenge, and the volume of operations and work is very huge, so focusing on strategic goals and giving them priority without prejudice to the administrative aspects constitutes a major challenge that many leaders may fall into, but exceeded This challenge is through empowering highly qualified administrative leaders and their continuous support and preservation, and this is what made us achieve our operational excellence.
Also among the challenges is the Corona pandemic, as aviation stopped around the world and the sector in which we work was affected, but we succeeded with our flexibility in responding to the stage, applying distance education methods, in addition to intensive communication with employees and trainees, listening to their concerns and responding to them, and we came out of the pandemic more experienced without the need Painful decisions such as reducing the number of employees, but the operations went as it should.
local and international models
• Do you see that specialization in the sector is required to achieve success for the CEO, or can any CEO continue to succeed in other sectors?
•• The CEO must be characterized by his ability to lead and have a strategic outlook. We have global and local models of CEOs who run very successful companies and organizations, but they differ in activity from their academic specialties. It is very important for the success of any CEO to realize that he is not only a leader. Rather, he is an ambassador for the organization he heads, and by that I mean that his personal reputation and what he does will always be important and influencing the organization, its image, and even its performance internally and externally.
• Does the CEO's success require consistent senior management, or is it possible for any team to succeed?
•• As I indicated earlier; The role of the leader is focused on decision-making and leadership. As for the higher managements, they are specialized in their fields and their employees work in their specializations. However, the CEO must know some information about everything. It is also important for the senior management team to have a spirit of leadership and integrity. The success of the CEO is not With a senior management that agrees with him on all his views and orientations, it is very important to have a diversity of opinions and the existence of transparent and bold discussions that put the interest of work above all considerations.
• Do you think that the development and training sector needs more attention from the competent authorities to make the outputs more specialized?
•• Training and development are the link that harmonizes the outputs of education with the needs of the labor market, and the competent authorities are now beginning to sense this need, especially after the launch of the Kingdom's Vision 2030, which aims to direct 40% of secondary school graduates to technical and professional jobs to achieve the goals of the vision in the industrial field. We have signed a number of agreements with government agencies aimed at enhancing areas of cooperation between the two parties and exchanging experiences, as well as creating joint initiatives and programs to graduate national cadres in specific specializations that meet the needs of the labor market. The agreement includes studies and advisory services, and we have many opportunities ahead of us with this transformation. And we always need to make sure that they are the right opportunities for the company's future, growth, and strengthening its business in the market.
• Do you see your success in heading the company's business as a result of the academic gain? Or with continuous experiences in professional work?
•• Education and experience are complementary to each other. Education is very important to build on correct knowledge and saves time and risks for companies and organizations from attracting untrained people. As for experience, it is the field of work in which we build skills that educational environments may not provide us with. Like problem solving, taking responsibility and making decisions in difficult times.
Attracting specialists in the sector
• The Emiratisation file is one of the biggest challenges, especially in light of attracting specialists in this sector. How did you deal with this file?
•• Certainly, the localization of an important sector such as technical training for aircraft maintenance is a challenge to the lack of competencies in the labor market in the Kingdom, so we have developed a plan to localize competencies by attracting trainers and leaders from the United Kingdom to train Saudi youth, and work plans linked to time periods and performance indicators have been developed for the Saudization of these Administrative sites, and we have reached 81% of localization, and we will raise this percentage.
• Are there experiences that you obtained abroad and were transferred to Saudi Arabia, tell us about that?
•• Foreign experience has certainly made us apply international standards in the local market, and today BEA Systems SDT has licenses and international standards such as EASA, City Guild, and others, and this contributed to the success of our negotiations with our partners around the world in localizing many capabilities, in addition to our adoption of the latest global approaches in The field of aircraft maintenance and our continuous keeping up with the current and future labor market requirements.
• In the future, would you consider moving to another sector if the opportunity arises, and what is the most important sector from your point of view?
•• Our focus – currently – is on providing trained competencies and technical training in the aviation and marine fields, but we have future goals that we have begun to work on, the most important of which is training pilots through simulators, and providing joint services to a number of companies, which will be announced at a later time.
Okaz (Jeddah) @Okaz_online